Agree big time with C and LT. Although at center I think the best move is a veteran to compete with Gino.

Jah Reid has looked promising. I don't see that as a need.

ILB sure but I see no reason Ray "should" retire.

We should be set at OLB with Sizzle/Upshawfor awhile and I don't think many teams have a 3rd guy better than McClellan. But it can never hurt to have another good pass rusher.

If we don't get Ed back FS jumps to #1. I think we could do a lot better at DE. And we need another CB in case Webb gets hurt again. If Jimmy Smith turns out to be awesome great but we can't depend on that._________________

These are the main needs I'm considering at the moment for the Ravens this off-season:

Offense

WR - Really depends on how things play out this off-season. Boldin and/or Jones could be cap casualties. If either of those guys go I think the Ravens should look for a quality starter opposite of Smith. In my opinion this is true regardless of what happens with those two but if both are still on the team then I doubt it's very likely. They have plenty of depth players too so I don't think just a marginal addition would do much for them.

OL - Too many uncertainties for me to pinpoint anything at the moment. I think they will stick with Oher at LT and Osemele at RT so maybe LG but Reid hasn't been bad there. I will say that I don't view C as a need/likely addition. With Gradkowski just being drafted with a top 100 pick he's going to get the first shot at it if Birk isn't with the team or is benched next season. If Birk retires or is cut then they will probably bring in a cheap veteran but that's about all I see happening.

That's about it for the offense. At TE both Pitta and Dickson are RFAs but there's a high probability both are tendered and I hope they keep both of them around for a while. That's a nice 1-2 combo. If they could bring in a dedicated blocker instead of using Dickson in that role it would be nice. QB and RB are set (assuming Flacco is back on a long-term deal like I would bet almost anything he will be).

Defense

ILB - I think this is pretty obvious. With Lewis on the decline and a possible retirement coming there's a big need to have somebody take over at that position. Ellerbe has played well but he's going to be a free agent and I don't think he's an every-down LB (nor am I confident that he will be re-signed). The team will still have McClain but I view him as a somewhat poor man's version of Ellerbe. Their strengths and weaknesses are similar but in my opinion Ellerbe is better at pretty much everything.

Pass-rusher - If Kruger signs elsewhere for more money like I expect him to this becomes a necessity. That would leave only Suggs as a reliable pass-rusher and even if Upshaw improves in that area I don't think it will be enough to rely on. Suggs is also getting older and next season will already be his 11th year in the league. A potential successor for him wouldn't be a bad idea. This doesn't necessarily have come in the form of a DE/OLB but that seems far more likely than getting a 3-4 DE that could be relied up to get to the QB in a situational pass-rushing role.

DT/DE - It would be nice to get a guy that could come in as a reliable pass-rusher at this position but I don't expect it. Regardless the Ravens need a quality starter across from Ngata and especially next to Cody. I don't trust the recent surge from Jones to last and in my opinion McPhee is best suited as a situational pass-rusher from this position as well as a a pretty versatile piece for the other defensive packages the Ravens run when they're not in a base 3-4. I would be hoping for a guy that not a liability against either the run or the pass and not a role-player type.

FS - Only if Reed retires or signs with another team in free agency. I don't think either scenario will happen though. With Reed back I think the team would stick to the plan of developing Thompson to eventually take over. I'm thinking Reed would re-sign for 2 or 3 years and I honestly couldn't see him not starting if he's on the team. That would fit the time-frame for developing Thompson and if he doesn't pan out they could spend a higher pick on a FS in a future draft. Now if Reed isn't with the team next season this becomes the biggest need on the team in my opinion.

Those are the only positions concerning me on defense. CB could be argued but I don't see it as something they should spend assets on right now. Williams won't be back but Webb will and that leaves the depth chart as Webb/Smith/Graham/Brown/Jackson. There's uncertainty for sure but I would gamble on that rather than not being able to upgrade the other needs I listed that are definitely going to be a problem. NT... No. Especially not with any kind of quality draft selection. That's about the only way the Ravens are going to be able to make substantial upgrades this off-season and like CB they have more obvious needs to worry about. It would be asking a lot for the Ravens to be able to cover everything before next season but with what should be 4 or 5 top 100 picks they could do a lot.

Still, with the young receivers on the roster, if a couple of them can step up and contribute more next year, I don't see any real need there. Can the Ravens get more out of Doss, Williams, Thompson and Streeter? They should be able to.

OL - definitely need to replace Birk. If Gradkowski is the guy, then hopefully we'll see him getting a good number of snaps against the Bengals tomorrow.

I think the O-line's problem has been that they're all (apart from Yanda) mediocre, rather than any of them actually being bad. Osemele is a rookie, and will get better. Reid and Harewood look like backups to me, so far. I think Oher's serviceable as a LT, if he's got a good LG to his right. So the Ravens have to get someone in the draft, and if there's a Guard in there who's better than the Tackles that are on the board, I'd be happy with that.

Is Oher the long term answer? Probably not. But at a time when the team does have some pressing needs, I don't think replacing him needs to be top priority. Unless there's a LT in the draft who is BPA when the Ravens come to pick.

ILB - I'd trade McClain. Don't think he's good enough, and seems to have regressed this year. I think Ellerbe is good enough to play a role, either as backup or as starting Will LB, and I hope (though don't necessarily expect) that the Ravens re-sign him. Bynes looks like he might be a decent depth guy. I do think they need to draft Ray Lewis's successor, though. And draft high.

OLB - If Kruger goes, then the Ravens definitely need to strengthen this position. Suggs will be better next year, and so will Upshaw. McClellan can play a role too. I don't know if the Ravens have anything in Adrian Hamilton, yet. I do wonder if the Ravens still see Michael McAdoo as a guy who can make plays if he ever gets healthy again.

DE - Ngata, Cody, McPhee looks good on paper. Hasn't worked too well so far this season. Cody has been bad, McPhee and Ngata have been injured. Art Jones has definitely improved. But I think they need to get someone in the draft who can add some power and speed to this group.

FS - I think the team needs to find Ed Reed's successor too. Whether he signs a new contract or not, he's pretty beaten up at the moment. That's definitely limited his effectiveness for the last two years, and I don't see it getting much better as he gets older.

I know Harbs was quite high on Emanuel Cook until he broke his leg, but that was probably only a a Special Teams guy. Then there's Omar Brown, who seems to have some potential but again would be light years away from being capable of replacing Ed Reed.

CB - Let Cary walk. Keep Jimmy Smith and see if he can get a whole training camp and pre-season under his belt without getting hurt. Corey Graham and Chykie Brown are looking like good depth guys, at the very least, and Brown might improve enough to become a starter. As long as Webb comes back the same player, the Ravens have someone who can be a shutdown corner, and only have to worry about the other side of the field._________________

The only need on the offensive line is that we NEED to move Oher back to RT and put Osemele somewhere else and find a true LT, because Oher is going to get Joe killed one day if he's our franchise LT. At least Flacco can see it when Oher gets beat on the right side and (attempt to) move out of the way.

At Center, I'm pretty happy with Gradkowski taking over for Birk.

Defensively, we NEED some DE's and a freaking NT. Either that or we need a scheme change to a 4-3 and have Ngata/Jones as DT's and McPhee/Suggs as DE's or even Ngata/McPhee at DT and Kruger/Suggs at DE, but either way we need NT's and DE's. So obviously I say we resign Kruger.

ILB we let McClain walk, keep Ellerbe (he looks to be on the up and up), Ray will be here and we just keep drafting ILB's in the late rounds and hope for a gem as of right now, unless we can pick up a veteran for cheap (maybe David Hawthorne or someone like that).

For CB's I think it's obvious Cary is going to walk to a team that's going to pay him out the [inappropriate/removed] for nothing, so obviously let him walk and keep Jimmy Smith *sigh*, but we should also keep Corey Graham because he's actually looked promising this year, unlike Smith. Release Chris Johnson and keep Chykie Brown as well. Next year's starters should be Webb/Graham/Brown/Smith/Jackson.

For FS we need to draft a 1st or 2nd round safety to replace Ed, who SHOULD retire this year, and if not we have to release him. Have this rookie compete with Omar Brown for the starting spot.

Oh, and lastly, keep Jacoby Jones, keep Boldin for another year and keep working on Tommy Streeter (looks promising, a big guy who runs a 4.3 40)_________________

Backup QB. I know people don't like spending a draft pick on a backup, but we can do better than Tyrod Taylor, in case Flacco stops being so durable. It'd be nice to try to slowly develop someone, and see if he shows more promise in a couple years than Taylor has.

Backup QB. I know people don't like spending a draft pick on a backup, but we can do better than Tyrod Taylor, in case Flacco stops being so durable. It'd be nice to try to slowly develop someone, and see if he shows more promise in a couple years than Taylor has.

Uhhhh, what haven't you liked about Tyrod? He did better yesterday against the Bengals starters than Flacco did lol_________________

Backup QB. I know people don't like spending a draft pick on a backup, but we can do better than Tyrod Taylor, in case Flacco stops being so durable. It'd be nice to try to slowly develop someone, and see if he shows more promise in a couple years than Taylor has.

Uhhhh, what haven't you liked about Tyrod? He did better yesterday against the Bengals starters than Flacco did lol

Yup, and the O-Line sucked too, but he ran out of the pocket when needed, Flacco probably gets sacked 10 times behind that o-line. He looked pretty good out there besides that one interception, which wasn't his fault imo, it was rather a good play by carlos dunlap. He's probably better than 60% of the back up QBs in the nfl

Backup QB. I know people don't like spending a draft pick on a backup, but we can do better than Tyrod Taylor, in case Flacco stops being so durable. It'd be nice to try to slowly develop someone, and see if he shows more promise in a couple years than Taylor has.

I think that if the Ravens are going to build an offensive system that best suits Joe Flacco, they'd be better off getting a backup QB who could also be effective in the system, should he ever be needed.

Tyrod Taylor and Joe Flacco couldn't be much more different, in terms of their skill-sets.

I wouldn't want the Ravens to go with a QB before the 6th or 7th round, though. It would be a wasted pick, when the organisation needs to secure players capable of making an impact right away._________________

Backup QB. I know people don't like spending a draft pick on a backup, but we can do better than Tyrod Taylor, in case Flacco stops being so durable. It'd be nice to try to slowly develop someone, and see if he shows more promise in a couple years than Taylor has.

I think that if the Ravens are going to build an offensive system that best suits Joe Flacco, they'd be better off getting a backup QB who could also be effective in the system, should he ever be needed.

Tyrod Taylor and Joe Flacco couldn't be much more different, in terms of their skill-sets.

I wouldn't want the Ravens to go with a QB before the 6th or 7th round, though. It would be a wasted pick, when the organisation needs to secure players capable of making an impact right away.

This is true, and I can agree with this. I think we're better suited to have a pocket passer as a backup so that in the event Flacco goes down, we don't have to change our entire scheme (although sometimes that may actually be an advantage because then the opposing team has to adjust their scheme on the fly, but yeah...)_________________

Backup QB. I know people don't like spending a draft pick on a backup, but we can do better than Tyrod Taylor, in case Flacco stops being so durable. It'd be nice to try to slowly develop someone, and see if he shows more promise in a couple years than Taylor has.

Uhhhh, what haven't you liked about Tyrod? He did better yesterday against the Bengals starters than Flacco did lol

He also played against a defensive scheme that was designed for Flacco, who is a much different QB.

I think the sample size is too small to be comfortable with Taylor if we needed him to start for more than one game that actually matters, but I'd still be extremely hesitant to use more than a 5th rounder on a guy to be competition for the backup spot.

Backup QB. I know people don't like spending a draft pick on a backup, but we can do better than Tyrod Taylor, in case Flacco stops being so durable. It'd be nice to try to slowly develop someone, and see if he shows more promise in a couple years than Taylor has.

Uhhhh, what haven't you liked about Tyrod?

The whole throwing the ball thing. He's not so good at that. I'm not basing this off one game, he was awful in the preseason as well.

Backup QB. I know people don't like spending a draft pick on a backup, but we can do better than Tyrod Taylor, in case Flacco stops being so durable. It'd be nice to try to slowly develop someone, and see if he shows more promise in a couple years than Taylor has.

Uhhhh, what haven't you liked about Tyrod?

The whole throwing the ball thing. He's not so good at that. I'm not basing this off one game, he was awful in the preseason as well.

Well like I said in the GDT, if we could refine his passing game a little bit more (this is only his second year, ya know...) he COULD be a starter in this league. He's basically a homeless man's version of RGIII, except I think Tyrod is actually more athletic and faster._________________

Backup QB. I know people don't like spending a draft pick on a backup, but we can do better than Tyrod Taylor, in case Flacco stops being so durable. It'd be nice to try to slowly develop someone, and see if he shows more promise in a couple years than Taylor has.

Uhhhh, what haven't you liked about Tyrod?

The whole throwing the ball thing. He's not so good at that. I'm not basing this off one game, he was awful in the preseason as well.

Well like I said in the GDT, if we could refine his passing game a little bit more (this is only his second year, ya know...) he COULD be a starter in this league. He's basically a homeless man's version of RGIII, except I think Tyrod is actually more athletic and faster.